Audio 3:22
Relatives of MH370 passengers protest in Beijing

Michael EdwardsUpdated
Wed 26 Mar 2014, 6:27 AM AEDT

Anger continues to rise in China over Malaysia's handling of the disappearance of flight MH370. Chinese families who had relatives on the aircraft clashed with police during protests outside Malaysia's embassy in Beijing. Some families received the news that the search for survivors was over in a text message from the company.

Transcript

CHRIS UHLMANN: China's anger continues to rise over Malaysia's handling of the disappearance of flight MH370. Chinese families who have lost relatives on the aircraft clashed with police during protests outside Malaysia's embassy in Beijing.

Criticism of Malaysia Airlines mounted after some families received the news that the search for survivors was over in a text message from the company. China is now sending a special envoy to Kuala Lumpur to find out what went wrong.

The ABC's Michael Edwards reports from Kuala Lumpur.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: A clear indication of the hostility that the Chinese feel towards Malaysia over the disappearance of Flight MH370 can be heard in the questions directed by Chinese journalists at officials from both the government and Malaysia Airlines during the daily press briefings.

JOURNALIST: Just how you show your sorrow to the family members, and in fact we heard their shouts and screams, especially in Beijing at the hotel. So up to now they said you delayed the investigations. Did you?

MICHAEL EDWARDS: News that Malaysia Airlines informed some of the families via SMS that the plane ditched into the southern Indian Ocean has only added to the growing anger many feel in China over the search for Flight MH370.

(Sounds from protest)

In Beijing, protesters marched through the centre of the city and made their feelings felt outside the Malaysian Embassy. Police officers physically removed several people from the scene.

STEVEN WANG: We are just sitting in front of the embassy and what we are aiming at is to the Malaysian government.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: Steven Wang is the group's unofficial spokesman. He says one of his family members was on flight MH370 although he wouldn't say which one. He says it's about time Malaysia gave them the answers they're looking for.

STEVEN WANG: We want they give us the truth. That's what we want.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: Almost from the moment the plane went missing, Malaysia Airlines management has come under withering criticism.

The chief executive of the airline, AJ Yahya, says the company's sole and only motivation for sending the text messages was to make sure the families heard the news of the plane's demise before the rest of the world told them.

AJ YAHYA: Whenever humanly possibly, we did so in person with the families or by telephone, using SMS as the last resort of ensuring fully that nearly 1000 family members heard the news from us and not from the media.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: The search for the plane is now classified as a recovery operation. Aircraft and search ships continue to scour the southern Indian Ocean looking for debris.

The question now on everyone's mind is how and why the plane ditched into the ocean. There are many theories, including pilot suicide and deliberate sabotage.

One interesting detail to note is that all the passengers on board Flight MH370 have been cleared by authorities of any possible involvement. In contrast, Malaysian officials have not done the same for the pilot or the co-pilot.